Post a controversial music opinion

Playing Sun City prob not a gd way of rehabilitating their music press reputation

Rolling Stone used to trash Queen, and in the RS Record Guide went so far as to dock Sparks an additional star (on a discography that received none to begin with) for being somewhat responsible for them.

I can't believe I have an excuse to post this incredible video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKUzzDW9RWM

UK critics hated Queen - maybe not in their early days, I wouldn't know - but post-punk definitely.

Queen were definitely regarded as a metal band in North America in the 70s.

in the 70s also -- tom saying "pomp rock" was a useful clue, bcz it led me to geoff barton, metalman for sounds and founding editor of of kerrang magazine. barton was largely in favour of and was (progably) the first to use the term. he had liked queen at first but came round to his colleagues disdain -- queen were “a laughing stock. pariahs, no less”

on tumbr (of all places) i found a piece quoting him more recently explaining this hostility:
i: they were seen as not having paid their dues. They were perceived as a band who came out of nowhere, snagged a deal with EMI, and were essentially pampered and manufactured. (Of course, if you look at the actual history of the band, this couldn’t be farther from the truth.)
ii: they were *clever*. “That would never do among the mostly university-educated music writers of the time […] who felt somewhat threatened, and quietly preferred their subjects to come from broken homes and council estates - that dues paying thing again.”

dude made his guitar out of his fireplace or some shit like that. queen rule.

sorry "in the 70s also" was an x-post to tom: they were very unloved in the uk in the 70s, and then i'm off into barton's explanation

barton is the person i most regret not tracking down to contribute to my book tbh

"progably"

The frankly terrible movie

This is probably the most controversial statement in this whole discussion.

queen have plenty of classic, inescapable, overplayed to death singles but were never much of an albums act at all

I'd point you in the direction of the 'Black Side' of Queen II and then ask you to take that statement back, sir

sheer heart attack is a near-perfect hard rock record from beginning to end. one of the best made in the 70s.

Hell, I'd rep for The Game being a terrific album.

I'd say this is one of the influences on George Michael's early fast ones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6QGP0OUaV4

i also don't really care for 70s hard rock at all so that's surely part of it for me

We were driving today and Somebody To Love came on the radio, I have no particular love for them as a whole but that one song is just incredible.

In 1987 or so my high school theater friends had a whole thing about doing air guitar to Champions on the roof of the school. I didn't really get it but I was glad that people were having fun.

One morning when I was at college the phone rang rather early, and it was a friend distraught about Freddie dying and I said (sleepily) "Freddie who?"

https://media.tenor.com/JzAm9KcnyUoAAAAd/freddie-mercury-live-aid-yes.gif

Somebody To Love was always the only Queen song I hated. (I got Night At The Opera for my 3rd birthday. Mum said that I loved Bohemian Rhapsody but they never bought singles as they weren't value for money).

Yeah Sheer Heart Attack is a perfect album imo, 45 minutes of Mercury and May skimming high fives

Prob the worst single musical moment of my life was while working in a fancy studio, and taking a break and wandering into the 5.1 mixing suite, whereby the affable engineer put on A Night At The Opera (mastered for 5.1) for me and it was such an unpleasant experience I couldn’t listen to Queen at all for a couple years afterward

The album is good I just learned that I despise 5.1 mastering

sheer heart attack is a near-perfect hard rock record from beginning to end. one of the best made in the 70s.

― scott seward, Wednesday, August 16, 2023 1:58 PM (fifty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Hell, I'd rep for The Game being a terrific album.

― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux)

both of these

George Michael stole "Somebody to Love," sorry.

yeah that version's great too

Someone on here mentioned Sparks and I think that's the key for me--I just prefer Sparks for that sort of thing. I get the two bands are different, but all Queen songs kinda sound the same to me

I'm not remembering this totally right, but in the Sparks doc it was mentioned that Queen was influenced by Sparks in transitioning from prog to showtimes rock

I've always found it weird that the "In The Air Tonight" drum fill gets all of the love, yet the one in "Fat-Bottomed Girls" after the breakdown (where Roger Taylor goes from Mt. Whitney to Death Valley in 7 beats) is rarely ever invoked in culture

might have something to do with the song title

... and the song.

Roger Taylor's drumming generally doesn't get as much awe as it merits, dude is a titan

Controversial Queen opinion pt. whatever - Roger Taylor works well as a 'percussive' drummer, i.e. when he's playing complementary parts to the others rather than bashing out a beat. However, when he does have to bash out a beat - the 'rock' section of B. Rhapsody, for example - he's revealed as a total plodder, lagging behind the tempo and dragging the whole thing down.

counterpoint: "Another One Bites The Dust"

Most of Stevie Wonder’s music doesn’t do a lot for me.

OK we have a winner

Most of Stevie Wonder’s music doesn’t do a lot for me.

Co-sign. The funk jams are great but there are far too many gooey ballads. Innervisions is the only album I can get close to listening to all the way through.

ii: they were *clever*. “That would never do among the mostly university-educated music writers of the time […] who felt somewhat threatened, and quietly preferred their subjects to come from broken homes and council estates - that dues paying thing again.”

― mark s, Wednesday, 16 August 2023 21:43

Only recently heard about things like this: prog/jazz guy Andy Edwards saying rock critics of the time felt really out of their depth if musicians had lots of jazz/classical/world influences and a good education to draw on. That those critics ideally wanted to explain the genius of the more primitive musician to the readers.

I listen to "Higher Ground" sometimes just for his drumming.

counterpoint: "Another One Bites The Dust"

― out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve)

Counter-counterpoint: the most basic of drummers can play and could’ve composer those drums. I don’t hear anything remotely interesting in the drums there.

Honestly what am I missing? It’s the most basic rock drum pattern ever in that song.

If I were to pick a counterpoint I’d go with idk “I’m in love with my car” which is still deceptively simple but not something an amateur drummer can pull as fast.

you're not missing anything. It's a beat I could describe as "default"

to my mind the appeal of roger was, in descending importance:

1 - can sing
2 - can write
3 - is hot
4 - plays drums pretty good

although I would like to add that, anecdotally, I have met very few drummers capable of playing "another one bites the dust" without throwing in a cymbal crash on every four and a "cool tomtom fill" every couple bars

I could never get into "In Love with my Car." Can't get past the lyrics. When Freddie is singing something dopey I can accept it but not Roger.

I listen to "Higher Ground" sometimes just for his drumming.

― the dreaded dependent claus (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, August 19, 2023 9:35 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

^^^ this.

And one would think the consensus on the ham-fisted RHCP version is that it's laughable, but for some reason, it has its defenders.

the ballads are the highlights of those stevie albums - there is way too much anti-ballad sentiment in online music fandom in general, which I might attribute to "toxic masculinity" if I was in the mood to argue that kind of thing

if anything there are too many clavinet funk workouts on those things, they tend to resemble each other after a while

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSMUyUft2Zk

You can never have too may clavinet funk workouts.

maybe not I was just being contrarian but my god that song is gorgeous